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| Million $ view from hotel |
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| Aya Sofya |
A $600 r/t plane ticket was enough to finally lure me back to the Eastern Hemisphere. It had been since 2008, when I spent three weeks in Germany and Italy, since my last time in Europe. I will not wait that long again! I picked an itinerary that had been on my radar for quite some time. Portugal (a country I had never been), Sevilla, Spain (a city I had heard wonderful things about) and Morocco (a country I had never been to and wanted to check out). Along the way I was lucky enough to get to see a few other places I didn't expect (even if for a brief time) like Istanbul, Faro, Cadiz, Tarifa, Malaga, with an encore of Istanbul again.
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| Aya Sofya mosaic |
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| Istanbul sweets! |
Let me say that flying through Istanbul (the great deal was through Turkish Airlines), seemed real painful on paper (given extra flights and overnights in Istanbul), but was a blessing since Istanbul is an amazing city that I might not have sought out otherwise. Granted I only spent 40 hours there, but those 40 hours were well worth it. Both times I stayed within a stones-throw of Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque. Both of these building are truly larger-than-life. Luckily I had the opportunity to visit each of them as well. Aside from wandering around that area I also traversed the Grand Bazaar (no, I didn't buy anything) and spent a good deal of time wandering around the Beyoglu and up and down Istiklal Caddesi marveling at the throngs of people out at all hours of the night. Up there I stumbled upon some great food (kebabs and doner kababs mostly... I couldn't get enough), fun bars, live bands, the Galata Tower and some world-class people watching. I had 40 hours, but really needed more like 40 days to get to see everything I wanted to see in Istanbul, but not too shabby for a quick layover.
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| ginjinha! |
From Istanbul I headed to Lisbon (yes, 4 hours back the direction I came from) and to the bulk of the trip that was intended. I did not know much about Lisbon, but it too proved to be an amazing city (and definitely felt like I was in Europe, where Istanbul felt like a mishmash of many places). My only expectation for Lisbon was that they speak Portuguese, which is frustrating, but I found it to be much different than it was spoken in Brazil, also it helped that most people spoke English as well. Staying right in the middle of the city made it easy to roam around the different central neighborhoods. I did not expect Lisbon to be hilly, but it was, which made the city even more interesting with a view point looking over the water or the red tiled roofs pretty much everywhere.
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| Lisbon |
Though I know I missed some of the sights in Lisbon, I got a good enough taste to realize I would definitely go back. I did get to visit the Castelo de Sao Jorge (the big castle on the hill over looking the city), Pracado Comercio, Se (the big cathedral), Mosteiro de Sao Vicente de Fora, took a ride on Tram 28, drank some ginjinha (the local booze with boozey cherries) and got to stroll around the modern Parque das Nacoes. Strolling the neighborhoods in Lisbon was really the highlight of this city.
From Lisbon I took a train to Faro. The scenery the first part of the trip was ok, but further south it was amazing lush hills, etc., what I was hoping for. Faro is on the southern coast of Portugal. I had heard of it before since Ryan Air flew there from London. It was an impressive town of 40,000. The night in Faro also happened to be the main night of Carnival, giving the bars an excuse to stay open until 7 a.m. or later. I did partake in some Carnival fun, but not all night, as I had to grab a bus to Sevilla pretty early in the morning. Probably had one of my favorite meals of the trip in Faro (an awesome rump steak frites served with a grilled orange). The bus to Sevilla, Spain was a quick 3 hours.
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| Plaza de Espana |
Sunny Sevilla was pretty amazing as advertised. 3 nights there gave a good opportunity to see lots of the city, though again I would love some more time there. The first morning the hotel suggested an excellent freeish walking tour, which was a great opportunity to get acquainted with the city, see the main sights and learn a little more. The cathedral, Giralda, Alcazar, Plaza de Espana and Metropol Parasol were all pretty awesome. The neighborhoods in Sevilla were also very interesting, finding a different hood to have tapas in each day added to the adventure. With the sun shining and excessive amounts of outdoor cafes, it was also quite easy to settle in with a cerveza and watch the day go by.
